Fermanagh District Council has been fined almost £21,000 for polluting a waterway near one of its landfill sites. The stream near the Glassmullagh site in Enniskillen flows into a lough which the council had promoted as a tourist attraction. In fact, the council had wanted to close the landfill site back in 1995, however it took 10 years to obtain permission for a new facility. During that time, the council admitted that it was struggling to cope with the amounts of waste it was receiving.
In 2004, Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) inspectors found that water containing very high levels of polluting material were escaping into a stream which flows into Lough Acrussal. At a hearing seven months ago, the council admitted breaching the conditions of a waste management licence issued under the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1997/2778 and the provisions of the Water (Northern Ireland) Order SI 1999/662 relating to discharging poisonous, noxious or polluting matter. Sentencing was deferred to see if work being carried out on the site would stop the polluted water escaping. However subsequent site visits found it was still leaking into the lough.
It is believed that around 8,000 gallons of leachate is being removed from Glassmullagh by tanker every day, to be treated and disposed of legally. The site was closed last year and a state-of-the-art facility opened at Drummee, which a spokesperson for the council claims is at the forefront of waste management and protecting the country's natural beauty.
